Four Minutes, Thirty-Three Seconds
by SoMuchDepends
Summary: Gilbert Blythe has recently untangled his life. Everything is going his way, and he is proud to say that he is completely over Anne Shirley. Nothing can shake him. And yet, here he is, face to face with Anne. 4 minutes and 33 seconds starts now... Modern.


_Hello, friends! This is an idea I had back when I first read AoGG. Anne and Gil accidentally end up in a dance after they've become estranged. And discomfort ensues. The title is based on Cage's 4'33'' which is a song of silence. And I feel like any song Gil and Anne would dance to would be practically silence to them. I hope you enjoy this little one-shot!_

* * *

For Gilbert Blythe, things were on the upswing. His GPA was good as it was ever going to be. He had a prestigious summer internship lined up. He was enjoying and benefitting from every class. His roommate was not entirely strange. And he had enough money to avoid ramen for the rest of the semester.

Most importantly however, he was over Anne Shirley. And for Gilbert Blythe, that was the pinnacle of achievement.

Gilbert Blythe had poured eight years of his life into Anne Shirley; eight years which Anne had effectively destroyed in a matter of seconds.

But now, Gilbert had put that dark phase of his life behind him. Now, he thought of everyone but Anne. Now, he had erased the traces of her from each part of his life. Now, he no longer needed Anne Shirley, not even the smallest bit.

Now, he was standing at a party, face to face with Anne Shirley.

* * *

Once his respiratory system restarted, Gilbert Blythe made the necessary small talk, the stilted conversation of old used-to-be-friends. Riddled with "I'm glads" and "goods," the monosyllabic back-and-forth resulted in Gil asking Anne to dance.

He definitely had not meant to ask her; nothing could have been further from his mind. But as the previous song ended and the couples shuffled like cards into the next, Gil lost control.

"Want to dance?" Gil said, the words bursting from his mouth.

"Yes," Anne answered, her words overlapping with the end of his.

So here they were. And they only had to make it through four minutes and thirty-three seconds of a Top-40 hit.

"It's good to see you, Gil," Anne said softly, her eyes on level with his chin.

"It's nice to see you, too, Anne," Gil replied, tilting his head down.

The pair were the definition of "at arm's length." Gilbert kept his joints at wooden angles and his hands at the most appropriate section of Anne's waist. For Anne's part, she glued her hands to Gil's shoulders and kept her movement to a tense minimum.

Three minutes and thirty-three seconds.

"I'm happy to… see you," Anne murmured.

"I think that was previously established," Gil said with a dry chuckle.

The eyes of their classmates peeked curiously at the couple; Anne and Gilbert had always been an object of interest to the gossip of Redmond, and tonight provided a rare sighting of the two since the disastrous proposal. Tonight was fuel on a latent fire.

"Oh… yes….Are you headed back to Avonlea this summer?" Anne began again.

"Er, no, I actually have an internship. At the hospital in White Sands," Gil replied, his face flushing for reasons unknown.

"Oh, Gil, I'm so proud of you!"

"Well, it's nothing especially… special. Just your basic entry level internship. Coffee runs, paperwork, the occasional bathroom inspection," Gil said laughingly.

Two minutes and thirty-three seconds.

"What are you doing this summer, Anne?" Gil asked.

"I'm just going to be hanging about in Avonlea," Anne said, shrugging her shoulders and unconsciously tightening her grip on Gil's shoulders. "Helping Marilla, you know…."

"Well, I hope you have a productive summer, nonetheless, Anne," Gil smiled. "I find myself a bit jealous of you, you know. I'm going to miss being in Avonlea this summer. I feel like I haven't been home in ages."

"I suppose you haven't," said Anne, absently calculating the time Gil had been away from their hometown.

"I miss so many of the people there," Gil breathed.

One minute and thirty-three seconds.

"Even Josie Pye?" Anne asked, a falsely-innocent smile on her face.

"How dare you?" said Gil, a smirk quirking his mouth.

It was worrying how quickly they fell back into pace with each other.

"I'm sure she misses you," Anne continued.

"Well, I don't miss her," Gil answered. "I miss Avonlea in general and a few people in specific."

"I miss you," Anne whispered, her eyes widening as she hears the words tumble out of her mouth.

Despite the song, a deathly silence fell between the two while Gil fumbled for a response.

Thirty-three seconds.

Gil's heart hardened.

"Well, whose fault is that, Anne?" Gil said, his face void of any emotion.

"I'm know, Gil," Anne said, her voice precariously even.

"Mm," Gil replied, the tension in his jaw signaling an end of conversation.

Gil kept Anne squarely away from his body, and Anne kept her eyes firmly away from his.

Three.

He could make it though this.

Two.

He was over her.

One.

It was over. And Gil honestly couldn't remember what song had even played.

"Goodbye, Gil," Anne murmured, disappearing into the crowd.

Redmond politely averted their eyes as the pair split. Gilbert felt relief melt throughout his body. A new song began, and Gil bowed out from the party. On his walk home, Gil sorted his thoughts.

He had made it through the most awkward dance ever. He had further alienated Anne. He had found some closure with the Anne. He had let her walk away this time. He had ripped off the bandage.

But one thought lurked in the back of his mind, and as he reached the door of his apartment, he brought it forward.

He was not quite over Anne Shirley.

And Gilbert Blythe was at square one once more.


End file.
